"What are we DOING?!" Aang nearly yelled, so shocked with his own actions that he almost dropped her, and Katara had to cling to his shoulders to keep from falling. She gripped his hips harder with her legs, which definitely did not help.

"Spirits, Katara, I'm so, so sorry," Aang whispered, leaning his forehead into her shoulder and trying desperately to quell the throbbing he knew she could feel. The only thing that separated them was his light flaxen pants and her lower wraps. Oh, this is so embarrassing. "I don't know what came over me. I was not trying to take advantage of you or anything, I…"

"Aang, it's okay," Katara soothed. He could still feel her chest heaving for breath against his own. Also not helping… "I got carried away, too, I guess…"

Aang tried again to set her down—gently this time—to get her off of his straining arousal. He wasn't going to be able to think like this. He wanted to tell her how he really felt, but not through a fog of hormones. He wanted her to understand that his love for her wasn't just physical.

"Can we… can we go back to your room and talk?" he asked, quietly. Aang caressed the side of her face as she smoothed her skirt back down. His hand was shaking. He couldn't seem to get any part of his body under control, and it was becoming incredibly frustrating.

"Of course," she replied immediately. She sounded… nervous? Why did she sound nervous?

He felt her reach for the handle of the door and quickly stilled her hand with his. "Um, give me a minute? I… um, I can't go out yet." He felt his cheeks bloom scarlett and was thankful it was too dark in the closet for her to see him. Any of him.

"Oh! Oh. Right. Sorry."

They stood in awkward silence for a moment, rocking on the balls of their feet, as Aang tried to think of something—anything—other than what had just transpired between them, so that he could will his arousal away. He tried to think of the trade meetings, or cleaning the bison stables at the Southern Air Temple, or the old wrinkly men who had invited him to the sauna with them earlier, or…

"Hey, Aang," Katara's voice pulled him out of his frenzied thoughts. "It's… it's okay, you know. It's normal for people our age, and… and I understand if it's just a physical reaction—we were getting pretty into it…"

"Do you want it to be just a physical reaction?" he asked bluntly, against his better judgment. This was not how he wanted to tell her. How he wanted to find out.

It was so quiet he could hear her swallow, and her tense breaths as she gathered her courage.

"No," she whispered.

Aang thought his heart might explode out of his chest. All this time… All this time he had been trying not to overstep her boundaries, but he had never actually asked her what her boundaries were. How she felt. And now… Now she was saying she wanted him the same way he wanted—no, loved—her?

He couldn't help it, then. He leaned down and kissed her so tenderly, with so much adoration, that he felt her knees buckle again. He wrapped his arms around her for stability, and felt her lips open easily to him as she sighed into his mouth.

No! Aang's thoughts tried to scream through the haze of emotion. You are not going to get carried away again! Or admit your love for her in a closet!

"Let's go back to your room," he said when he finally found the strength to pull away, grinning so widely his cheeks hurt.

"Are you… ready?" she asked, and he could feel her own smile against his lips. He laughed—how did she make an embarrassing situation so… easy? So carefree?

Aang adjusted his pants and the flap of his belt to hide any remaining evidence of his desire, knowing that it would probably return at some point. "I'm ready," he grinned back, pecking her nose for good measure.

Her giggle was like music. He had heard it so many times before but it sounded different now—lighter, maybe, and more carefree. Aang felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest… maybe Katara felt the same way. He had to make a conscious effort to keep his feet on the ground.

"We should let someone know we're leaving, though," he said as she finally opened the door. They both had to squint to take in the light, and when Aang looked over at Katara and saw how disheveled she looked he had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. "Maybe I should do that," he said, gesturing to her hair.

Katara reached up and, when she felt how out of place it was, frantically began trying to smooth her hair down. The fangirls that had followed them to the closet were thankfully nowhere to be seen—their plan appeared to have worked. But as they moved towards the ballroom exit they found Suki and Sokka standing in front of a crowd, choreographing the security team.

"Alright, guys—and gals, distinguished warriors, the night's almost over," Sokka was saying to the palace guards and Kyoshi Warriors that were gathered there. "You've all done great so far. Here's the plan for when guests exit the palace." He gestured to a board which had a map and several swords and fans placed all over it. "Guards, you'll be at the sword stations, Warriors, you'll be at the fans. Two to a station, with at least one firebending guard per sword to send up flares in case of emergency. Got it?"

At some point during Sokka's speech, many of those in the audience had spotted Aang and Katara standing nearby. When Sokka looked up and saw them all staring behind him, he turned around, startled.

"Oh, it's you," he breathed in relief. "What happened to your hair, Katara? You know what, nevermind. I don't wanna know. Did you two need something? We're kinda busy here."

"Uh, yeah, Sokka, we're, um…" Aang started, rubbing the back of his neck.

"We're going to go back to the private wing," Katara said confidently, grabbing Aang's arm. Aang immediately felt grounded by her touch, and exhaled happily. "We have some… things… to discuss. We'll probably be in my room. Don't send anyone looking for us."

Aang saw the fire from the hallway sconces reflected in Katara's eyes, and his heart skipped a beat. Sokka smiled at her and nodded. "About time," he said, sounding relieved. "Alright, you two go. Suki, we'll need to change a couple stations on the board…"

They didn't stick around to hear what needed to be changed or why. Aang and Katara skipped through the halls arm in arm, giddy with the absolute truth that had finally been revealed between them. They found ways to steal kisses in the corners, giggling their way through the guards stationed at every post. Aang's entire body tingled with excitement and new energy as they prepared to finally, finally admit their feelings out loud.

When they reached her door, Aang thought his heart might actually explode from how hard it was pounding. It felt like they were on the edge of something huge. Like what they said in that room might change their future forever. Maybe they had already reached the point of no-return inside the closet.

Aang reached out and turned the knob, then held the door open for Katara.

She leaned up on her toes again and gave him a sweet kiss on the lips. When Aang opened his eyes and looked down at her, she was blushing, and quickly averted her eyes.

"Sorry," she said. "I just… I like that I can do that now."

Aang reached one arm around her back as he closed the door and pulled her back into him for another short kiss. He cupped her cheek tenderly with his other hand once the door was taken care of, equally elated to be able to offer these little touches even when they were alone, now. "I do, too," he whispered when he pulled away. He leaned his forehead against hers for a moment.

Everything seemed to be spinning around him. Moving both too fast and not fast enough. Suddenly her bed—where they had spent hours before, on this trip and on trips past, lounging and talking together with no expectation or insinuation of anything more—seemed almost threatening. As though sitting on it might cause him to lose control. He took her hand and led her over to the edge of the bed, then pulled up the plush chair he had spent all those recent nights sleeping in.

Katara was beaming at him in a way he didn't think he'd ever seen before. She looked… mischievous and proud, excited and nervous all at once. And so, so beautiful. Aang couldn't help but smile back.

"So," he started. Words weren't forming properly in his brain. He needed them to, but luckily Katara seemed to be having less trouble.

"Yeah…" she sighed happily. "You really… feel that way about me? All this time I thought…"

"I love you, Katara." He said those words with his whole heart. Tears actually pricked the backs of his eyes, he was so overwhelmed. He didn't even know how long he had waited for his truth to be spoken out loud to her, but now it was out. He blinked rapidly and looked to Katara for her response.

Katara's eyes were wet as well when she responded, "I love you, too, Aang. So much. I think I've always loved you."

"Oh, Katara," he sniffed. "I've always loved you. Didn't you know? From the moment I opened my eyes and saw you looking back at me. It's always been you."

"NO, I didn't know," Katara returned, suddenly sounding irritated. "How was I supposed to know? Do I look like I read minds? Does 'I definitely wouldn't want to kiss you' sound like a declaration of love to you?!"

Aang tried to bite back his laugh. "I know, I'm sorry. I was not so great with words when I was twelve."

"You were pretty great with words when it came to the Zhangs and the Gan Jins," she retorted, folding her arms over her chest. "And all those speeches?"

Aang reached out and touched her arm and watched her face soften slightly. "I was never great with words when it came to you, though," he admitted. "I was always so nervous, and then as time went on… I didn't want to ruin our friendship." Katara uncrossed her arms and took his hand in hers. "You mean so much to me, Katara. I almost didn't even want to ask you to be my fake date to that ball because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to hide my feelings anymore."

"We're both idiots," Katara laughed.

"Yeah," Aang agreed, "we are." Then he leaned over to kiss her on the cheek, where a tear had escaped earlier and was leaving salty tracks down her face.

Katara turned her head after his lips made contact, kissing him back and grinning widely.

"I'm glad you asked me to pretend to be your girlfriend," she admitted, nuzzling his nose with her own. "And I'm glad I can kiss you for real now, without worrying about where we are or who we're with. I thought I ruined everything—that night after the play."

"You didn't ruin anything," Aang said firmly. "That kiss felt so natural. Like we should kiss like that every time we part. I mean, we had a lot of kisses that night," he waggled his eyebrows at her and she fell back in a fit of giggles before sitting back up, "and they were all enjoyable in different ways. The first ones were…" Aang blushed, "hot. Really hot. I was glad it was dark and we weren't pressed against each other like in the closet, otherwise…"

"Otherwise we might have saved ourselves a lot of trouble and had this conversation about two weeks sooner?"

Aang cocked his head to look at her, realization dawning on him. "Is that… is that really why… but…" he spluttered.

Katara leaned over and placed her hand on his thigh to brace herself, causing Aang to flush even redder and gulp, his feelings from earlier threatening to return. "All this time, I thought my feelings were one-sided," she said. "But feeling you against me earlier… Knowing you wanted me like that… I knew it could just be a physical reaction to what we were doing but… I don't know. It gave me validation that you at least find me attractive," she laughed nervously.

"Katara," Aang groaned. He reached up and threaded his fingers through her hair, pulling her face down for a searing kiss. She immediately opened her mouth to him, and Aang's mind went blank for what seemed like the hundredth time that night when he felt the sensual glide of her tongue against his. He didn't ever want this to stop. He wanted to kiss her like this for the rest of their lives.

He didn't know how long they kissed like that, expressing years of pent-up longing and desire, but eventually his neck started to hurt from the awkward position they were in and he pulled back sheepishly. He tried to discreetly adjust his pants before she opened her eyes.

"If you only knew all the times you inadvertently turned me on," he laughed. "I've found you attractive since the moment I laid eyes on you, but recently… Why do you think I wouldn't let you heal higher than my knees when I had growing pains? Or that I always held a pillow in my lap when we were lying in your bed together? Sometimes it feels like when I'm around you, my body is being hijacked and I can't control it. If I didn't know any better I'd think you were bloodbending me."

Katara grimaced for a second at the mention of her least-desired power, but then she grinned. And her grin turned into a giggle. And that giggle turned into a full belly laugh that had her falling back onto her bed and holding her sides. Aang's mouth quirked up as well, but he wasn't sure what he had said was that funny.

"Tui and La," she exclaimed when she finally regained her composure. "Well, that's quite the ego-boost, Avatar." She had such a playful glint in her eye, like she always did whenever she referred to him by his official title. He remembered how often he'd had to remind her to have fun during the war; that she was still a kid. It made his heart happy to know that even though they were both technically adults now, Katara had finally learned to let go and have fun, too.

"Wait, what do you mean?" he asked, once he grasped what she had said. "Why is that an ego-boost?"

"It's just… You're the Avatar, Aang! And… you want me? You love me?!"

"Of course I love you! I've loved you since I was twelve!" Aang was baffled by her reaction.

Katara shook her head. "No, Aang, I understand that, but… You could have anyone you wanted. All those fan-girls fawning all over you, all of them heartbreakingly gorgeous. And still you choose me. That's… wow."

"None of them hold a candle to you, Katara," Aang said, taking her hands again. "Not in looks, or anything else. And you're my best friend. You've been my biggest supporter since you broke me out of the iceberg. I can't do any of this without you. And you! You're so amazing on your own and so smart and kind and beautiful. I tried to tell you so many times, but I lost my courage or got interrupted…"

"You did?" she asked. She looked so bashful and surprised. "When?!"

Aang rolled his eyes and smiled, remembering all the times he had almost admitted his love for her. "I mean, even during the war! I tried to tell you in the fortuneteller's village, and before I left Ba Sing Se to visit the Guru, and I almost kissed you on the submarine…"

"I knew it! I thought you were going to, and then I was so disappointed when you just gave me a hug instead."

"You were?!"

"I mean, I love your hugs, but… after we kissed in the cave… Aang, I spent months dreaming about that kiss," she admitted.

"We should go back there," Aang said with a smirk. "See if we can still make the crystals light up."

Katara laughed. "Oh, I bet we could," she said. Suddenly she blushed and leaned towards him, causing Aang to heat up himself. "It would be fun to take a trip like that, just the two of us… now that we're together for real."

Aang coughed nervously. The thought of taking a trip alone with Katara sent pleasant chills down his spine and treacherous thoughts in his brain. He shook his head to regain focus. "Yeah," he agreed, running a hand down the back of his neck. "Yeah, it would be fun."

Katara seemed to remember where their conversation had been going before they got sidetracked and fixed him with a determined look. "Wait, you said you'd tried to tell me before… have you tried to tell me recently? Like, since the war ended?"

Aang laughed again. "I've tried to tell you a few times just this week!"

"What?!"

"After you woke up from the coma," Aang started, "and that morning before breakfast when Sokka and Zuko were fighting…"

Katara's eyes widened almost comically. "I can't believe…" she breathed. "We wasted so much time!"

"No," Aang said firmly, grasping her hands and dipping so that she had to look at his face. "We didn't waste this time—we were still together. We still talked, still laughed, still got into trouble. We built our relationship to what it is today." He let go of one of her hands and threaded into her hair, kissing her lightly. "I wouldn't trade a minute of the time I've had with you."

Katara made a squeaking sound, like she was trying to keep herself from crying, and all but pounced on him, kissing him fiercely. Aang smiled and pulled her closer, still awkwardly sitting on the plush armchair while she perched on the edge of her bed. He was glad for the distance between them, though, when Katara opened her mouth to him again and sighed into the kiss.

Aang pulled back before things could get out of hand; there was still more he wanted to say, and he wanted to say it with a clear head.

"I was ready to live my whole life as just your best friend," he declared, still trying to calm his racing heart. Katara leaned her forehead against his, and he immediately felt bolstered. "I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. It would have hurt if you found someone else to love, but I was just happy to be part of your life, as much as you wanted me to be."

"I felt the exact same way," Katara agreed. "But now we don't need to just be friends anymore, and I… I'm so happy, Aang. Being with you always makes me happy, but this takes it to another level."

Aang beamed. It seemed like maybe they were on the same page, then. "You make me happier than I even imagined possible, Katara. And I…" He rubbed his hands on the sides of his pants. "I don't want to miss out on a minute of that happiness for the rest of our lives. I know we're still young, but I've never been able to picture myself with anyone else."

Katara clutched him to her suddenly so hard that he was pulled off the chair. He laughed, catching himself on a cushion of air. "Yes, Aang," she squealed into his ear.

"Yes, what?" he asked nervously as he stood up and sat—carefully, a foot or so away—next to her on the bed. He hadn't even finished asking her.

"I don't ever plan on leaving your side, Aang. And… when the time is right, in a few years, maybe," she blushed. "I'd like to have a family with you, to… how did you put it? I love you, Aang, and I want to see more of you in the world."

Aang's heart squeezed. "I can't believe you remembered that," he gasped. "I love you, too, Katara." He knew they'd already said it so many times that night, but he wanted to say it again, and again, and again. He wanted to fly to the highest point of the caldera and shout it out for everyone to hear.

"I don't know if Air Nomads married or not…" Katara started, wringing her hands.

"They did, sometimes," Aang smirked knowingly. "Not everyone did, but it wasn't uncommon, either." Katara's relieved smile could have lit up the entire palace.

"You're right that we're young, but I'm also past marriageable age in my tribe, and… I've never been more sure about anything in my life, Aang. You're it for me."

Aang closed the respectable distance he'd left between them on the bed and kissed her hard. He had been worried Katara would think he was getting carried away, or that it would be too much at once, but if they were finally admitting their unspoken, undeniable truths to each other, he wasn't going to leave any out.

"You're it for me, too," he murmured before going back for more. He could feel things heating up again in this kiss, between their encounter in the closet and their heartfelt confessions. Katara gripped his arm hard enough that he was sure there were going to be marks later, and he wrapped his hand around her back, delighting in the warm, smooth skin between her skirt and top.

Katara was just threading her tongue between his lips, wordlessly asking permission which he was absolutely going to grant, when there was a frenzied knock at her door. Katara's entire body slumped when she pulled away, groaning. Aang couldn't help but agree.

"Who is it?" Katara asked, nearly stomping to the door. "I thought I told Sokka not to bother us," she muttered under her breath.

"It's me," Hakoda's voice called. "Mai told me there were some fangirls and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Katara opened the door, laughing. "I almost forgot about them—remind me to thank them later."

Aang chuckled. She was right; if those girls hadn't chased them into a closet, who knows how long it would have been before they finally admitted their feelings.

Hakoda looked between the two of them, a bemused but concerned smile on his face. "Thank them for what?"

Katara glanced at Aang and he nodded. He knew she wanted to make sure it was okay with him before she told her dad, but she could tell everyone in the world for all he cared. He wanted everyone to know they were together now. Officially, happily, forever together.

"Aang and I are together now, for real," she said confidently, walking over to Aang and taking his hand. Aang stood up proudly next to her. "Not just pretend, anymore."

Hakoda grinned. "I'm glad you two finally figured it out."

Katara pulled Aang along and went in for a hug. Hakoda eagerly embraced both of them. "I've always considered you part of our family, Aang, but I'll be happy to officially welcome you when the time comes," he winked knowingly as they separated again. "About those pressures the other world leaders are putting on you, though…"

"Don't worry, Head Chieftain Hakoda, sir," Aang interrupted. "I don't plan on having a family for a while, and not for their reasons, either. If or when that happens, it will be because we want to. I know the Spirits won't keep the world out of balance forever. Whether it's through me or some other cosmic interference, there will be airbenders again. I'm not going to worry about that, and I don't want Katara to, either."

He looked down to see Katara's blushing but delighted face, and warmed. He wrapped his arm around her and she immediately did the same.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it," Hakoda responded. "Not that I would have expected anything else from you, but a father does worry."

"I know, Dad," Katara said, reaching out to put her hand on his arm.

"Well, I'll let you two get back to… whatever you were doing," Hakoda said, clearing his throat. "Everyone is on their way back now. I think the younger folks are planning some sort of after party celebration in the private sitting room if you're interested. This old man needs to get to bed."

Aang and Katara laughed. "That sounds like fun," Katara said. "Goodnight, Dad."

"Goodnight," he said, walking out the door and down the hall to his own room.

"Should we go and tell the others?" Katara asked, turning to Aang again. Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

Aang laughed. "I'm pretty sure they already suspect, but yeah. Let's go make it official." He took her hand and led her out the door. There of course would be battles and troubles ahead—they weren't naive enough to think otherwise—but Aang knew that the future was looking very bright, now that they were together.

That's all, folks! Thank you all so much for encouraging me as I embarked on my first ever (intentional) multi-chaptered fic. There will be a nsfw one-shot sequel posted in a week or two, exclusively on ao3. I have learned so much writing this, and I can't thank coyotelemon enough for all of her hard work beta-reading this fic over the last 8 months! THANK YOU, Coyote, for always pushing me to be a better writer and a better human. I probably would've lost steam a long time ago without your constant push and excitement. I hope you all enjoyed this last chapter-let me know what you think, and thank you for reading!